If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that she was on the bank of the Mississippi instead of sitting by the ocean.

Having a towel under her so that way she couldn’t feel the sand helped with that illusion. It helped her to pretend that she was just back home, that she was sixteen again, that nothing was ever wrong and she had just come back from a day of listening to those swindlers tell their tales to the tourists, listening to them tell her some new snippet of a tale that they had heard or made up just for her ears, or so they said but she knew better. She could pretend that the sun would never set on the day and it would just keep going on, like that, lazy and easy.

But it wasn’t like that. And the river didn’t have waves that crashed upon the sand and made a sound that was distinctly the oceans. She smiled a little bit at her folly and leaned forward to prop her chin on her knees and shifted her feet to dig her toes into the sand, feeling the gentle abrasions as it gently scraped across her skin.

It was just easier to pretend for a little while.

Maybe that was why she spent her time in the land of stories? Well, now anyway. Once it had just been because they entirely fascinated her. These worlds, these adventures. She wanted to be a part of it all. She guessed she had forgotten that the characters usually experienced great loss and tragedy before it all began. Aybe that meant that she was going to be going off on a grand adventure soon. She shifted her stance so that it was her forehead propped against he rknees.

She knew that her thoughts were only going round and round in this weird pattern because she was nervous. She was waiting for her brother to appear and sit with her. She had come here to actually be with her brother but she always was a little bit nervous each time. She was a little broken and so was he, so what if their broken pieces not mesh this time? But they usually did. And she usually got to tell her stories. And he usually didn’t mind when they were just quiet.

And that was nice. Telling the stories and talking and bonding again.

She liked that.

It was nice to like that, truth be told. It was nice to like a thing. Like she liked her stories. Like she liked the bookshop. She heard a noise behind her and lifted he rhead to look over her shoulder and see a familiar face, mostly familiar anyway, she had been so small before but it was getting familiar again. Owen. She tilted her head a bit and patted the spot in the sand next to her. ”Hey big brother” she greeted, easily. She still sometimes hated the sound of her own voice, but at the same time, she liked using it here. To talk to someone she thought that she had lost.

That was a good way to use it, wasn’t it? Even if it was all mixed up with too many accents. Oh well. She wondered what would happen today. If they would talk. If they would be quiet. She had spent the earlier part of today sitting in her new apartment and thinking, and writing, and laying back in her bed. So that probably meant she was up for talking. She hadn’t done it yet. It would also be up to him of course. Duh. She smiled a little at the thought. Mostly. Because if she decided that she wanted to talk she would definitely be too stubborn to stop.

”Hey, sister,” he replied with a soft smile as he laid out his towel and settled next to her where he planned to remain for a while. He didn’t know what they were going to bond over today, but it was a guarantee that it was going to happen. Since coming back, Serenity was the one family member that he had the easiest time bonding with. They seemed to understand each other more than anyone else. They both knew what pain was like and they both knew what it was like to be lost and trying to find themselves.

”How are you?” Laying back on the towel, Owen let the sun warm his skin. His blue eyes glanced over at his sister. Resting his hands on his chest, he tried to relax, shifting so the sand contoured to his body making it a little more comfortable. If the sand remained this comfortable then they would be able to stay for quite a while.

”Have you done any writing lately?” Owen hoped that her writing would help her figure things out more than it had helped him figure things out. Despite writing down in journals, he didn’t feel that it helped him remember parts of his past or grown accustomed to not remembering parts of his life. But, Serenity was more of a natural writer. He figured it would help her more than him in the long run.

Serrie watched as her brother laid out his own towel and returned her greeting, with a small smile. She was happy to see Owen. In truth, it often felt like seeing him again for the first time, like a miracle. She still expected him to not really be there, no matter how long it had been. It made her feel a little jolt each time she saw him. Partially in feeling odd that she had thought him gone and now he wasn’t and partially because, well, it almost felt like cheating death. Too bad that couldn’t been done so often but she would be happy with the one time she had gotten it. Most didn’t.

It helped that they were both a little broken. She wondered, if she had seen him before she had felt a little broken, if she might have reacted differently to his return. But that wasn’t here or there, was it? She wasn’t grateful for being broken but she could appreciate that it gave them something of a bonding point that so was he. In his own way. Though his worried her sometimes, with the memory bit.

But that probably came from being a story teller and not knowing what she would do if she had to have that happen to her, probably. She almost smiled at the thought but instead shook it off.

How was she? She stretched out her legs before bending them at the knees again, propping her arms on to and then her cheek on top of her arms so she could look over at her big brother. How was she. She hummed softly and thought about the question. She could give the polite answer. She wasn’t sure if that was the one her big brother wanted. She had been bad at social niceties even before this though, she simply was… eccentric. So she spoke the truth, why not? ”I don’t think I’m much of anything, today, but that’s better than being sad,” she said, with an honest shrug.

”But how are you?” she wanted to know that too. The honest answer, not the polite one. It was easier to worry about another person rather than have yourself worried over and it was nice and distracting to do, really. She bit her lip for a moment before relieasing it. She could easily go into tales an stories and fables about people that worried so about others but no, that was a nervous habit and she was going to sit on it!

Any writing. That was an easier question. Serrie ha dalways wanted to write but now she was wondering if she would always be better at the spoken word, ironic now, than the written one. But she tried. ”More reading and planning my writing than actually getting the words down, I confess” she said, trying to push herself to speak a bit more, and not give one word answers. She hated the accent she had so carefully acquired with an entertained air for years, it brought too much attention, but it was just the pair of them so there shouldn’t be any harm of it!

”What have you been up to?” see? Indeed. It was a talking day, she supposed. Or at least, a talking start. She was trying to speak and trying to be personable and trying to be herself. She was sure she didn’t make it easier for him to remember anything with her in it with her not being herself, and that made her want to push a bit more and that was at least a little bit healthy, wasn’t it?

There was understanding in his eyes. He flashed her a quick smile before his gaze drifting down to the sand. Nodding in further understanding, he tapped his fingers on his chest in quick succession, stopping just as soon as he started. He hoped with more time that his sister would get better to where she wouldn’t be sad and she wouldn’t be nothing, but where she would actually be happy. Serenity deserved that much.

”I’ve been okay.” Adjusting wasn’t easy, but he thought he was doing well. ”Tina’s been helping me with everything.” Informing him on what he missed, assuring him that he was doing well and everything was going to be okay. Tina accepting him back into his life was a blessing. He couldn’t remember much about her, but he could easily see why they were going to get married.

Owen wasn’t a writer, he didn’t understand how difficult it was for his sister to write what she had imagined. Painting wasn’t the same. He would start with an idea and if a mistake happened and everything changed, he went with it hoping he would still create something beautiful in the process. ”What ideas do you have?” He didn’t know if it would help her to talk about it when someone else, but he thought it was worth a shot if she was willing to discuss it.

Sitting up, Owen pulled his knees to his chest and crossed his arms to rest on top of them. ”Work mostly.” He said with a little shrug. ”Other than that I’ve been trying to catch up on things I missed. Movies, books, you know. And painting.” Owen chuckled with a perfunctory shake of his head. ”I’m not very good at it, but it’s calming. I think I’m going to try and follow along with Bob Ross soon.”

Serrie settled into the sand, feeling the warmth of the sun and letting it warm her bones. And she gave the honest answer… and was glad to hear that Owen gave her the same. With family, shouldn’t you be able to do just that? Of course, she often gave the polite one with family, but it depended. Whatever. He’s been okay, she nodded, glad to hear that. And even happier to hear about Tina. She smiled a bit. ”That’s good. You two are good? I like Tina” she said, resting her head back on her knees again. She was curious, and wanted to make sure cause… like she said, she liked Tina.

It was good that he had someone who was helping as much as Tina could too. She was probably the best to help, wasn’t she? He deserved that, and she was pleased to hear it. Probably best to help memory wise too, for the majority of stuff. That was good. She smiled a tiny bit at the thought, glad today felt more like a talking day. Helping with everything. She settled with that thought, she was certainly happy to hear it

But he was asking her about her writing and she was ashamed to admit that she hadn’t actually gotten much done in that area lately. That was a bummer. She felt like it was easier said than done. She preferred, in some ways, talking it out like a story teller but bard wasn’t precisely a job these days and with the attention her odd jumbled accent got her, she hated to speak too much these days like she used to back when she was younger, telling stories on the banks of the Mississippi for her friends to pass the time. It was harder to write it all down. She grumbled a bit about it.

She opened her mouth to speak and then realized that the words she was about to say were ‘do you remember’ and stopped herself. Well that would have been cruel. Instead: ”When I was younger, I used to wander around collecting tales from people that were working in Jackson Square if they had any. It’s kind of an homage to those, I guess.” She just felt like she was doing a poor job in paying them homage lately, it felt like it wandered with no clear aim. She was working on it.

She was smiling again to hear that he was painting, while catching up on things. She was curious about that. ”What are you painting? I’m glad. Calming is good and practice makes perfect” she said, nodding a little bit. She was glad to hear that, and would totally like to see it some day. Catching up though, that sounded interesting for all that she hated that he had to. That was no fun. But still, all was good if he was catching up. She thought about it, but then shrugged. ”I’m sure Bob Ross will help” he was the tree guy, wasn’t he? She wasn’t quite sure.

Owen carefully listened to everything she said. It was a story about her past, something he didn’t remember and longed too. He hated not being able to remember things. Especially in moments like this. They could reminisce and maybe he would be able add onto it and give her a few more ideas if she was lacking. But, he was coming up short.

As he always did when it came to his past.

”That sounds like it will be nice,” he told her with a little smile. ”I’d like to read it when it comes out.” Even if he didn’t remember where some of those tales came from, he was going to support his sister. What he had read, it was clear that she was a talented writer. Owen didn’t know if other people realized that, but he hoped they did. ”I’ll review things if you need me too.”

Shrugging, he looked at her. ”Mostly landscapes.”With his skills, he thought it was best that he stuck with landscapes. While they didn’t look great at least they weren’t too abstract looking because that wasn’t his style. He preferred more realistic things. ”I may do something else eventually, but right now I like doing the landscapes.” Glancing at her, he noticed she seemed to be thinking about something. ”Would you want to paint with me sometime?” It would be a quiet way for them to spend some time together and maybe in the process they would get to know each other a little bit more. ”The videos I have seen he is easy to follow along with.” Shrugging, Owen didn’t know if Serenity would be up for it, but he hoped she would. Or that they would be able to figure out something to be able to do together.

notes: i can't make a big enough apology for taking so long! i'm super sorry!

”I’d like that a lot,” she agreed easily when Owen said that not only would he read it when it came out, but that he would also review some things if she liked. Siblings were likely to tell you the truth about your writing, right? At the very least she had a feeling her other brother would and she thought Owen would as well. She needed more people going over her stuff, giving her opinions before she sent it over to her agent, and of course she wanted people reading it once it was out. That was the idea behind the writing.

She just had to actually get some writing done. She had a hunch she would soon be able to five in, it just hadn’t been the most wonderful week for progress lately. But she was feeling a bit more unwound here on the beach. A bit more unwound talking to her brother, seeing that he was doing well and confirming that she was. Or at least she was in neutral but that was totally well. And getting better each day. Seemed the feeling was mutual too.

Mostly landscapes. She nodded. She was sure that that would be nice, and if it was relaxing and such that it didn’t matter if it was hopeless, it was doing what it should do! She smiled a little bit. ”Well, if you like doing them than you should stick with them,” she agreed, nodding a little bit. Seemed like solid advice. If you like it, stick with it. She had never thought of painting before like that, though most creative outlets were good for relacing, weren’t they?

Would she liked to paint with him sometimes? She blinked and it shocked a small laugh from her, she hadn’t been expecting that. ”I’m sure it’ll be hopeless on my end,” she had never picked up a paintbrush before, not once. She had watched plenty of times, and back when she was growing up there was plenty of painting to see, but she herself? He said that the videos were easy to follow along with though… she thought about it for a little while, not wanting to just say yes or no before thinking it over. Eccentric she was, always. And weird at conversations. ”Well, why not. Okay. I’ll give it a try” she confirmed, after letting herself think it over.

If her current creative outlet was currently dodging her, why not pick up another? She smiled a little and carded the fingers of one hand through the sand. ”What made you think of taking up painting?” she asked, curious about what had brought it to mind, and wanting to know a bit more about her brother. Of course she did!

A little smile tugged on his lips as he looked at her. Even if she wasn’t good at painting it was going to be a good way for them to bond with one another. A closer bond with his family was something Owen was desperate to reconnect with people, start over, or bond in hopes that it would trigger past memories with them. ”Okay,” he said as he nodded. ”I’ll make sure to get the stuff for it.” He’d have to look through the videos and pick out the one that he thought would be easy enough to paint so Serenity wouldn’t be too overwhelmed.

”Someone recommended it to me,” he started as he glanced over at her. ”They said it was relaxing, so I picked it up when I was getting frustrated with my recovery.” It was also a comfort to him when he struggled with day to day things. Even though he wasn't good at it, he did enjoy it and was going to continue with it. ”It's been a comforting hobby since then.”

Owen sat quietly for a while, looking back at the view they had to look at. ”Do you have a hobby?” Asking questions he knew he should know the answer too frustrated him. He was still calm, but was frustrated with himself. By now, he thought that he would be over this, but he wasn't.

She couldn’t help the smile at the idea and propped her chin on her hands for a moment as she did before turning back towards her brother. She couldn’t promise she wasn’t going to be totally hopeless. In fact, she was probably going to be. But if it calmed him and he enjoyed it, well, she would be happy to spend time with her brother at least. And maybe it would calm her too. She was feeling more solid lately, but there was always a bit of sadness that sat on her even still. So maybe, hey, who knew.

But she smiled all the same. ”Sounds like a plan,” she agreed. And then decided to add: ”I’ll try not to get paint everywhere” she said, a small laugh at the idea. More of a reference without meaning to, about the fact that, well, Serrie hadn’t always been the neatest child. She didn’t see the point to coloring in the lines, so to speak, back in the day. It had gotten exasperated looks a time or two from parents and teachers and friends and… yes. Oops. What could she say? She had been a bit wild. No shame.

Someone recommended it to him. She shifted to look more at him and listened. Small frown at the idea of it. She could only imagine. But it helping… that was something, wasn’t it? A comforting hobby at that. ”Everyone should have one of those” she said, nodding a bit, but especially someone that had been through what Owen had been through. It was interesting, in a weird sort of way, when most of her memories were of someone so much older than her, a protector even when she didn’t want one, to now. Changed, but not at the same time. She didn’t think she’d ever see him as any different than that, not really. Even if the memories might be missing for him.

Did she have a hobby? She blinked, thinking about it. Not one she had engaged in in a long while. Did it still count? She knew that her writing didn’t, not really. It was more her livelihood than her hobby now as an author. But hobby. She thought about it and figured it still worked because she’d get back to it, it was too amusing for her. ”I started it about when I was 12 or so,” she felt the need to add first, so he probably would have only seen her at it when he came home to visit when he wasn’t off being a hero—as her young self had definitely seen ti and still did. ”I pick up sayings. Phrases. Slang. Back when… I was a pilot. I’d pick them up as I went.” she said, thinking that it still counted even if she hadn’t in a while.

”Any other hobbies you’ve picked up?” she asked, curious. So that he wouldn’t be the only one asking questions.

Serenity’s hobby traced back to when she was young. It was an odd one, not one he thought was common among people, but that was what made her her. It was unique. ”You were a pilot?” Maybe he knew that, but anymore he needed things repeated a few times before they sank in. ”What all did you pick up?” Owen figured that she would have picked up some interesting one with the traveling she did.

”I haven’t.” Owen told her with a little shake of his head. Painting had been the only hobby he had really picked up and made his own. Well… on second thought. ”Well, I do fly model planes. But, I think I did that before everything.” One side of his lips twitched into a little smile as he looked at his sister. He didn’t know if she would remember it, but if she didn’t at least he wouldn’t be the only one.

”Do you have any other hobbies?” Owen wanted to learn more about his sister and he thought doing their hobbies together would be a good way to do that.

Her biggest hobby? If you could call it that, anyway. That was a fun one, or a weird one, depending on who you asked. Probably definitely a weird one. She didn’t think most people did that, but it entertained Serrie to do, always had. She tended to pick up on things like that. Or she used to. What could she say? She’d always been a bit of a weird kid. She couldn’t help a small curl of a smile when he asked if she had been a pilot and she nodded, tilting her head back up to look at the sky. She didn’t mind reminding him that that was her job once. ”It was… a very freeing job.” she admitted with a small smile. Serrie had always also been a bit of a flighty creature so having a job where she got to jet around at all times and not stay in one place very long had been ideal for her. But she was so out of it lately, she still didn’t think it was right for her to go back. Probably not for a while.

What did she pick up? She hummed a bit and then decided to go with one of her favorites. ”Where’s the craic?” she said, pulling on one of those phrases she had picked up in Ireland. That one had mostly entertained her because most people didn’t know what it meant outside of there. It was also one of those that was in English, which was important too.

Any other hobbies? No. She smiled a bit and nodded, resting her head back down on her pulled up knees. Well that was okay, the painting had to be a rather big one, she thought. Hobbies were good though. She had been learning that herself. Hobbies were important. But the model airplanes. She perked up a bit. Now that was pretty cool. She wasn’t sure if that was something she had known before. It sounded vaguely familiar but it wasn’t something that she thought she actively knew. ”That sounds cool, have you recently?” she asked, leaning forward. He had said he did it before everything so she probably should know that but who knew. ”I wish I knew how to do that” she said, grinning a bit. She could just fly the big ones. The tiny ones sounded fun.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. Any other hobbies? She used to hike back when she lived in Scotland for a time but she hadn’t since… well, since. She should probably get back into that. It was healthy, right? To get moving? When you were sad? She also picked up myths like a magpie but she wasn’t sure if that folded into her habit of picking up phrases or not. ”I used to hike, but I haven’t for a while,” she said, thinking that was probably all she had. Her eyebrows still furrowed as she thought. ”But I think that sort of counts.”

HEARTLINES

”Where’s the craic?” He whispered, trying to repeat the phrase. ”What does that mean?” Owen questioned as he tried to mull it over, but coming up with no possible options. It was an interesting phrase for certain.

Owen smiled slightly as he nodded. ”I have. I went out with a friend the other day and we flew our planes.” It was a nice relaxing hobby that allowed him to focus on one thing. Oddly enough, it allowed him to meet new people and branch out to make new friends, sometimes he was more than willing to do. ”I could teach you.” Flying them wasn’t hard. He didn’t know much about his sister, still working on getting to know her, but he figured that she could pick it up easily enough.

Patiently he sat there as he waited for her to tell him about her other hobbies. It took a while and her brows furrowed as she talked. ”Hiking counts,” Owen reassured her with a nod. ”Maybe when we are both free we could go?” It would be another chance to get to know her, something he was eager to do.

Serrie was definitely having one of her better days and this was definitely because she was spending it with Owen. She liked being with her big brother, regardless of memory issues. She had thought she had lost him once, so why wouldn’t she? She also enjoyed sharing one of the phrases she had learned and smiled a little bit, leaning her forehead against her knees. Where’s the craic, it was one of her favorites. ”It’s mostly Irish, I think. It can mean a lot of things, but mostly craic can mean fun” she said, realizing she had spoken a lot for her lately, but she wanted to explain.

Oh good, she was glad when Owen told her he had done it recently. Hobbies were good. And that one sounded fun, relaxing, especially when she enjoyed planes as she did. She did used to fly them once, after all. And she liked the idea of it. It was sounded like it was relaxing too. She nodded. ”I’d like that, if you didn’t mind” she said. She would also probably be just as entertained watching him do it, one of these days. Spending more time with her big brother and all.

Hiking counted. She smiled a bit, well good, even if it didn’t she was glad that her brother thought so. She should probably get back into that, honestly. It would do her good to move again. Be more herself again, she thought. She wanted to try that at least. And if he could, well dammit so could she when he had a lot more to come back from. She nodded, and then decided answering was better. ”I’d like that she answered. Was she free this weekend? She thought about her schedule, her odd schedule, and then nodded a bit. She worked Saturday, not Sunday. ”Yeah, I’m free. That’d be fun” she agreed, liking the idea of it. She’d like to hang out with him again.

Spending this much time with his sister was nice. Getting to know her and bonding once again was a relief. A relief to know that he wasn’t being pushed away because he couldn’t remember, but was being met with patience and open arms instead. Serenity was more than happy to be spending time with him and as they made plans, it seemed she was more than happy to spend more time with him.

”I won’t mind,” he told her with a little nod. ”It’d be nice to spend some more time with you.” Owen couldn’t think of a better way to do it either. She could learn more about what he liked to do and maybe in the process he could learn more about her. Maybe, he could remember something about their past time together, though he wasn’t going to get his hopes up high for that one. ”I’ll teach you whenever you want.” There was a part of him that wanted to do it as soon as they were both free, but maybe trying something she liked would be better for him.

Hiking. He was going to go hiking. It was going to be a different experience, but he was still excited and eager about it. ”Okay good,” he started with a little nod, thrilled that they could do something so soon. ”What trail would you recommend around here?” Owen had no idea where to go and he didn’t think that Tina would either, she was usually so focused on her work that she didn’t go out and explore much. ”Are there any with good views?” Maybe he could send a few pictures to Tina and that would help inspire her work.

It was much more… settling to be around her brother. He didn’t expect anything of her because he didn’t expect her to be more vibrant like she was. It was lovely. Much more easy, and it made her feel more steady. She hoped that she helped him as well, honestly. She hoped that she helped him to feel better too, or feel more steady, or anything of the sort. It made her feel better too. And she was happy to retell any memories she could, though she was little when he had left before. Maybe once it would have frustrated her, or once she would have shrugged and floated off, but not now. Now it was just nice.

Plus he said that he was going to teach her how to fly the model airplanes, that he didn’t mind, and that made her smile. Reminded her of her once profession too. ”I like hanging out with you too” she said, with a little smile. Made her feel a bit less scattered. And the idea of doing that, well, that worked too. Maybe it would spur her on further, if she was flying something again and seeing how it helped Owen and such, nothing wrong with that.

She smiled at that. Once she might have teased, ‘way to be a big brother’ but now she wasn’t quite sure how she felt like answering. That involved talking too much. SO she hummed and thought for a moment before she did answer. ”I’m nearly always free, so whenever you are” she settled on, being happy to do that soon, feeling like it’d be fun. Something to do, get more time in the sun like today, on the beach.

”I know one from the last time I visited. It goes pretty high so it has an overhang, with a great view” she confirmed, thinking about it after a moment. That was what she had gone for too when she had done this more often. ”It’s a little while away, but it’s worth it” she said, nodding a little bit. Hopefully, anyway. Hopefully it would be worth it.